Waning Solstice
by Shadowtrack
Summary: A flashback of loss and anger of from the leader of Team Sovereign, Solstice Shokunin. A coming to terms of what can and cannot be, and what one person can do to resolve it. "Let no machine go unfixed." Average sized one shot, none of these OCs are mine.


The building I entered was quaint; easily mistaken for something before the Individuality War. Had someone been knocked out and dragged here, they could reasonably conclude they traveled back in time. It had rosy red walls made of trees from the Forever Fall forest; a remnant of old human expansion. It gave a supernatural warmth to the atmosphere; all the more fitting for the event. The carpet was that of a darker red, similar in hue to that of a fine wine made in the cellars of the upper class districts of Atlas. Sepia-tone pictures of shoddily built houses hung on the walls. The very first homes of Vale were pieces of memorabilia here. They have long since been tore down, but these pictures are a testament to their being. It was a confounding contrast to the lively walls of the funeral home, like a disease that gave its host a taunting premonition before his eventual deathbed.

"Ashes to Ashes, I suppose…." I said, mumbling to myself.

I shook off the remaining drops of rain on my leather coat and placed it on a hangar from a nearby coat-rack. Revealing my black suit and matching cotton pants, I readjusted my cherry-colored tie which slipped lose from my bumpy car ride here. The suit I wore was just a tad too small for my now late teenage body; coming short of my wrists and cutting off at my ankles. Some woolly black socks made up the space in between my pant legs and shoes, at least. As I motioned my arm to put the leather overcoat where it belongs, my left sleeve retreated up my body; slightly cutting off blood circulation to my hand. My eyes glanced on the scar on my forearm, just for a brief moment.

After placing my coat in its cozy home, an attendant came to confront me. She was wore a faded black dress whose lower ruffles somberly danced with each step. She wore fishnet stockings, perfectly snug to her thin muscular legs. The girl also added a pair of jet black high heels to her attire, masking her naturally short stature and coming just short of my own height. Her eyes were dark shade of purple, like that of a near withered violet flower. Black locks of hair streamed over her face, her hand swiping it back past her ear as she approached. She greeted me in a soft ethereal voice.

"Welcome to our humble funeral home. I hope you find our accommodations fitting." She gently bowed her head.

"I do. Its…most welcoming and warm. An odd feeling for such a place." I gestured around the room, making light of the cozy ether that surrounded us. I tried to keep away from staring at her face too much, looking around to avoid eye contact.

"Yes, the rooms are quite lovely, aren't they? The timber was hand cut by my father. He always thought the Forever Fall trees where some of those most beautiful things in all of remnant. He thought that they would make for a wonderful cabin, so he decided to cut some down himself. It wasn't until later in his life that he wanted to use them to build a funeral home." She courtly responded.

This strange history lesson caught my attention and I was drawn back to the twin violets.  
"Oh? Why did he want to build a funeral home so badly? Seems like a counter-intuitive thing to do when nearing the end of one's life."

She gave a faint chuckle in response.

"Yes, he was an odd duckling. But he was a good man. He was a part of a devious and frightening time, where people's bodies were burned, tossed onto the side of the road, or vanished all together. You know The War had a bloody history. When he aged and had his mind set, I asked him the same thing." She giggled once more.

"In the exact tone you just had, by the way. I asked him, why so determined, so resolved to build a funeral home? He responded with, 'Cher, I saw many people die where they stood, fighting for the things they thought would bring peace to this land; one way or another. I believe every man, woman, _and_ faunus deserves to pass away with dignity. That their family members will be able to see them off, and say goodbye one last time. Not on some careless ditch where no one will remember them or care. Lives are more than numbers, and I want to treat them as such. It seems in all this destruction, people forgot what makes us different from the Grimm. We are not mindless drones; we have a soul. As God as my witness, I will make a refuge from the obscurity of death; where people are welcomed to laugh and cry. They may be in tears, but they will be in a place where they can have support, and remember the fond times of the deceased, instead of failing to remember their face.' "

She paused for a moment, and I had to break off from her expectant gaze.  
"Now, I'm paraphrasing a bit. Even in old age, he was a long winded man, and my memory isn't perfect as much as I'd like it to be."

Cher furrowed her brows, and formed a coy smile.  
"Come to think of it, the funeral procession is still 40 minutes away. Why are you here so early?"

I closed my eyes a bit longer than a standard blink and sighed. Facing the ground, I chocked up a bit as I spoke,  
"That was a beautiful story you told, whether you realized it or not. Your father indeed sounds like a great man, and wise too. This person who is getting buried today….meant a lot to me. Her face may be fading for some…" I pointed to my temple and continued. "But not in here. It's still bright and vivid as ever, for better or worse. I wanted to check out the place where her final act will be played."

My eyes glimmered a bit more than usual as I radiated a grin,

"She would have loved it here. I'm so glad you accepted the offer."

Cher's face formed an expression of what seemed to be the sincerest interest I've seen in a long time.

"Would you mind, -and feel free to say no- Would you mind telling me about this girl and your relationship with her? The records were very vague on her cause of death."

I slowly nodded and replied.

"Of course. I think it's about time I've revisited what we shared; and what we lost."

I took out a carefully folded sheet of paper from my pocket. Unfurling it, words in black ink riddled the page. Its penmanship was loopy and dignified, yet had a sloppy styling. The writing was a tad smeared, and it ran together in some places, but it was still legible.

"I am going to be presenting this sheet here for the ceremony anyways. Pardon if I fumble over my words, I worked on it in the dead of night. I haven't read this to anyone yet and have had minimal practice in speaking to crowds; so this'll be….a good practice run."

"My life was never one of fortune; one day after a heated argument with my parents, I decided I had my fill of being pushed around. I gathered my things, flipped off the house, and snuck out in the dead of night. Wary, I had to settle in somewhere, so I lived in the cold and desolate streets of Atlas for some odd amount of months. There more than any, being a vagabond or uncouth was a grave sin. You've seen their type, right? Always cleaned to perfection, no blood stains or ragged clothes for them. No torn and worn shoes or busted lip and black eye due to a fight with a baker about a stolen loaf of bread. The types who have to fight to survive have been swept under the rug there. Homelessness and the like are seen as non-issues; with all their sophisticated technology, the government tends to think that people living on the street is so archaic that it doesn't exist anymore.

The shadows and alleyways reveal a much different story from the one the government claims to be true though. I did some pretty revolting things back then that I do not feel comfortable sharing with you all, but know that I did what I had to do to endure. I lived like this for quite some time, but it seemed fate had other plans for me. After a day of doing odd jobs around the city, I came back to rest in my little makeshift shack of a shelter. I was exhausted from the day, and I all I wanted to do was drift off into a better world through my dreams. Just before my consciousness started to fade, I heard a demonic squeal from outside my room. Next thing I knew, I was scrambling to my feet after being rag dolled into a wall. A Boarbatusk rampaged through my only refuge left. I had to flee to avoid being mauled to death, and I had to come up with a new plan.

I decided to travel to Vale in the pursuit of a new life. My search lead me to Signal, the Hunter training academy. After some pleading and touting of my mechanical skills, I managed to get in. Signal was the first place I met Virens. Our first encounter with each other was quite abrupt. I was walking out of my last class of the day when I noticed her distressing over something. As I got closer, I overheard her begging people to help her fix her weapon. She eventually bumped into me and asked the same question. She looked worn, beaten, and afraid. With my expertise in making gadgets and with someone in need, I couldn't say no to the offer. I introduced myself, and from this catalyst, our relationship grew. It was first one of a business partnership, but one day Virens and I met in the courtyard. She told me of her time before Signal and how she came to aspire to be a Huntress. That this weapon was in fact the literal representation of her will to be the best person she could be. I exchanged some of my own story, and we laughed as well as cried. After a brilliant idea from Virens, we were able to complete the weapon in time for her to be accepted. We were proud, but our mutual celebration did not last long. It turned out that helping Virens bumped my grade up so dramatically, I was sent off to Beacon the following afternoon. All I had time for was to leave a note at her doorstep before flying off to a new school. I never forgot her though; through my training, all I could think about was facing her in a battle one day. How strong was she? How adept had she become at using the weapon we created in our time apart? These questions only lit my fire, and I pushed myself further each day.

Then on the day of initiation, our paths crossed once again. She graduated from Signal just in time to join me on our first test. After being launched, I came across Virens and 7 others who followed her. The way to the relic sight went pretty smooth. We banded together to get the chess pieces necessary to complete the trial. Just as we thought the worst of it was over, the Deathstalker that trailed them crashed through the tree line and barreled straight towards us. I don't think we could have been more scared. I was dazed at everything that was happening. We were left out to fend for ourselves in this God forsaken rat maze and for what? I stood no chance against that monstrosity. I felt my vision blurring and my head spun like it was a washing machine. My eyes fell upon the rest of my comrades as their images swirled together in my brain. Then suddenly, it clicked. I didn't have to do this alone; my mind stopped churning and regained its focus. There were others right in front of me who must be feeling the exact same way. They felt hopeless in their individual capability. But that's what the test was; to come to terms with each other and work for a larger goal than ourselves.

I first rallied Virens, who then in turn united the rest of the hunters. We then realized we had the strength to defeat the beast. After a grueling battle, we came out victorious. Our happiness knew no bounds at that point; we cheered to the heavens and let the world know that we would not be taken down so easily. Virens and I knew that we would make a great team member no matter who we ended up with, though we yearned to be fighting side by side. After an arduous trek back to Beacon, my team was already decided. Thankfully, Team Sovereign was formed with me as the leader, Virens as the heavy, and joining us would be Reikon and Nichibotsu.

Our days together were spent sparring and through these fights, we got to know each-others' strengths and weaknesses, our dreams and our foibles. Our team was becoming something more than a team; it was becoming a family. All of us had troubled lives, and to come into contact with those who would understand our failings only reinforced the ties between us. Virens and I in particular became even closer. With everything that she went through to get where she is today, I thought that if we had her on our team, we simply couldn't lose. It seems the Sisters of Fate finally gave us their affectionate gaze and our troubles were beginning to fade. My past didn't seem so burdening, and the others felt the same way. But this was nothing more than a fool's dream; a façade of what was to come. One night the moon was shining incredibly bright; its shattered pieces seemed to glow as beautiful white lanterns in the starry sky. To celebrate our success, I suggested we go on a night-time walk to reminisce and talk about the future. Everyone seemed to love the idea, so we dressed up and headed out for a night on the town. A slightly chill breeze accompanied us as we moved underneath the orange glow of streetlight to streetlight. The city was still; not a single person seemed to be up that evening. It was freeing for a time, to be away from all the troubles our world presented to me and to be in good company. As we walked through the concrete jungle, we talked about our triumph of initiation day and our time growing with another. I made a passing mention at how amazing it was that even people like us could make it. Everyone seemed to take that into deep consideration, and the middling tension was only broken by Reikon making a poor attempt at a joke. We laughed anyways, out of the novelty of him trying to lighten the mood. Regardless, we couldn't wait to discover what we will do after we graduated from Beacon.

Suddenly, a shattering of glass split the night air around the corner, and our bodies tensed. We looked to each other and nodded in agreement that we should check it out. Reikon took to the rooftops due to his free running ability, and Virens, Nichi, and I stayed on the ground. We silently crept up to the corner. Closing in, we could start to hear some mechanical whirring alongside the shop being trashed. It sounded like someone was searching for something hidden, as there were null periods followed by a tossing of a chair or bookcase. I peaked around the concrete wall to see what was happening and motioned for the rest to hold position. The lights had been shot out along the street, so only abrupt sparks of light illuminated the scene. At first glance, I thought I was looking at some strange sort of Grimm. They're silhouettes were the only thing visible, and their height was much taller than your average human or faunus. I was able to make out four arms, two legs, and an oval shaped head. A faint red glow came from the eyes of the creatures. I was about to give the signal to attack when a bright burst of light from the nearest lamppost clarified the scene. What I thought were Grimm were odd models of Altesian Knights. They're egg white metal arms morphed into chainsaws, and their helmets had a distinct V shaped visor to them. The knights' feet were replaced by traction treads one might see on a tank, and they rolled about with a stillness I have not seen in any Atlas model.

Out of the darkness, I saw a new figure. This was the man who ruined everything. He is the one responsible for the tragedy you have now become a part of. His body merged in and out of the shadows, slinking his way from the blackest pieces of the night as if he would be burned by the smallest flicker of light. His name was Tenebris. I had only begun to question what he was doing at the shop when his hellish gaze turned towards my direction. I tried to jerk my head back behind the corner, but it was too late. Tenebris already caught the glimpse of my head and commanded his minions to replace us….whatever that meant. Only until we got to the point of dismantling his toys did Tenebris jump in. He wielded the same chainsaw-like weapons. Once revved in unison, they uttered a low growl like a set of desperate tigers backed into a corner. To be honest, its noise still haunts my dreams to this day. Flashes of Nichi fighting him speed past my mind whenever I think back to that moment. The grinding of blade on chainsaw, the calm and sadistic laughter of Tenebris are all there, constantly replaying in my mind. The rest was is surrounded by a thick fog. I remember jumping in to try and help Nichi, but as soon as I knocked Tenebris away, he grabbed a handful of dust vials off an adjacent shelf and whipped them towards the ground. A powerful explosion rocked the store as the shockwave blew out any windows left unscathed. All my senses went black after that. There was this period I might of well have not existed for a time. I lifted my ten ton eyelids sometime after and the colors started washing over my sight once again.

I saw Nichi laying face on the floor, a pool of blood expanding as her whole body shook to get up off the ground. Reikon tried to intervene in the ongoing fight, but was quickly thrown across the room and impacted the brick wall next to Nichi. The only one left standing was Virens. She tried to clobber one of his chainsaws away, but she swung with too much force. Tenebris capitalized on the opportunity and kicked her off balance. Out of respect and disgust, I dare not mention what happens next on that ghastly night. I forced myself to look away from the scene. The only detail that isn't repressed from that moment was her final yelp of pain. I didn't believe it at first, I was overwhelmed by shock. Virens had to be alright, no way could she be beaten like that. Not something as trivial as an overzealous swing.

I focused on my scroll to reassure myself that she was alright. Her aura would be there, and it might be in the red, but she was still holding her own. I crept over to my now ragged scroll and reviewed my teammates' aura. Reikon's and mine were in the yellow, and Nichi's was in the red. But when my dazed scanned Viren's, it was completely empty. My mind lurched and stomach clenched. I immediately looked back to the fight to see that monster eviscerate her body. I had to do something. With my last force of will I heaved myself into a sitting position. As I struggled and failed to return to my feet, I noticed Tenebris still idling over her corpse, remaining motionless. Only when my knees shook from getting back on my feet did he move even an inch. He robotically turned to face me; chainsaws sprayed with a crimson red. He was smiling like a psychopath and he told me the damnedest thing I have ever heard. "She was merely a faulty piece in the machine. I did you a favor and removed her." Then somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind, something snapped. I don't know what it was, but I wasn't shaking anymore; I felt strong. The pit in my stomach grew deeper, and the feeling ignited my body. My limbs suddenly had the power to lift an Ursa and time seemed to slow. I couldn't take it anymore, this thing had the _audacity_ to address Virens like a loose screw or a broken cog?! A mere device!? Not while I was still breathing. No one talks to Virens like that, no man, woman, faunus, or god has the right. I was burning with rage; my mind went into a primal fury.

His smug face would be torn off and hung on a pike if it's the last thing I did.

I charged at him, my dash cracking the floor as a nut under my force. As soon as I was in striking range, I was swiping with my metal claws at every chance I got. I was cutting the entire shop to shreds, its interior falling to the ground like mere strips of paper. My assault was reckless and uncontrolled, but unbelievably vicious. Even so, all I could focus on was Tenebris and how he dodged every single attack. My madness grew with each lunge; it came to the point where that voice in my head said nothing but " _KILL. KILL. KILL._ " When I finally managed to overwhelm him and thrust my jagged claws into his stomach, my arms were restrained by Reikon and Nichi. They had to hold on with all the remaining strength to stop the bloodshed. They're feet started skidding on the floor, but they just constricted my arms tighter holding on like it was the ledge of a cliff. Frothing at the mouth, I screamed for them to let me go, but it was too late. Tenebris saw his chance, and the bastard fled into the night with a cackle of a hellhound. He didn't have the guts to finish what he started; not that he would have any if I got my hands on him. We retreated that night to the hospital and my body gave out. I didn't regain consciousness for a whole three days.

Not only until Viren's body made it to the hospital did I believe her death. I thought it was all a horrendous nightmare and I just bumped my head into a door. But there she was, lifeless and still; so unlike what she was during life. It wasn't until that day that I rubbed her head goodbye that I knew what she was hiding from me. My hands patted a fragile set of faunus ears, now chill and clammy from death's kiss. I just wished I could have found out by her telling me when she was ready, and not on her deathbed.

After finishing my story, my breathing became labored and sporadic. I clutched my arm where a familiar burn rose from my bones. Swallowing a rigid lump in my throat, I finished my exposition.

"That's why I am here today. I was the one who caused her death. If it weren't for my idea to go out that night, she would…" I needed a moment to regain my composure. "She would still be alive."

Cher was moved to tears and her face was red with grief.

"Oh Lord, you poor, poor soul."

She quickly hugged me and I wasn't sure what to do at first. I was hardly accustomed to such affection. Though I must admit, it felt good to have someone to lean on, other than Nichi and Reikon. So I hesitantly welcomed the warm embrace, and for once I felt a bit relieved; that burden I held suddenly had a weight or two thrown off my back.

Though Cher wasn't done. Her eyes flared and determination swelled through her heart. She quickly changed her body posture to a firm and commanding stance.

"But you must never, ever blame yourself for her death. There was no way you could have known. Virens knew the danger of this path and she would beat you to death if she heard you talking like that."

I frowned, "Miss with all due respect, don't talk to me about what Virens would and would not like. I know what she would say and I know where the conversation would lead. I've been through that. It always leads to one direction, and this will be the final event that sets it all into motion."

Cher's confusion was matched only by the glint of the now drying tears left on her flushed cheeks.

"What would that be?""

"To find and kill that bastard Tenebris; bringing his plans –whatever they are- to a screeching halt."


End file.
